Life in Korea: War Memorial
Well, we had really big plans over the Lunar New Year holiday here. A huge portion of the Seoul population (about 75%) departs the city to head to their oldest relative's home for a couple of days, leaving the streets free of traffic, parking lots open and most of the local tourist sites relatively crowd free. Unfortunately, I managed to get a hum-dinger of a cold about 4 days prior to the holiday and I spent a great deal of our holiday huddled around a Kleenex box, coughing my head off.
However, the cold did lighten up in time to allow me take the family over to the Korean War Memorial which is only about 2 miles from our home near the US army base. And the cough medicine worked long enough to make it an enjoyable time.
Now, this is not, as I erroneously thought, a memorial only to the Korean War of 1950-1953. Nope, this memorial is a huge 3 floor complex which tells the tale of ALL the conflicts Korea has been involved in though-out history. And that is quite a list.
Starting outside, the complex has a huge area of land dedicated to all the machinery of modern wars. There are missles, airplanes, tanks, amphibious landing craft, a 1/5 size model of a Korean Navy submarine, artillery...you name it. The kids found this fascinating and preceded to assure that no ladder or stair case went unused. The outer exhibits are free to all and really a great exhibition on their own. There are even captured North Korean, Chinese and Russian equipment on display (including a full sized SCUD missile).
Also outside are several monuments to the Korean War which split the peninsula in 1950-1953. Many exhibits and statues express the Republic of Korea's (aka South Korea) thanks to all of the soldiers who died to keep them free. Most moving of these are 6 outdoor wings of marble slabs with all the names of the soldiers and civilians who died in the Korean Peninsula war and in Vietnam (over 50,000 South Korean troops served in Vietnam - 2nd largest participant). Very simple, open air aisles with name after name printed in polished marble, with small buddhist prayer briars burning incense and floral displays, it is a very emotional place. Hard to keep a dry eye in this area.
Once inside, the memorial is broken into 3 floors. The first floor is dedicated to all the many, many wars which have ravaged the peninsula over the years leading up to the final Japanese occupation and World War 2. Very high quality displays show the fall of one of the most advanced civilizations (they had type setting and gun powder in Asia far before the rest of us) and the struggle of Koreans to remain a separate and free people in Asia. Invasions from China, Japan and, yes the USA, are all depicted. Korea has seldom been at peace in it's 4000 year old history.
The 2nd floor tells the story of the Japanese occupation and the 1950-1953 Korean War. Again, it is a very well done set of exhibits. This is a terrible part of world history and the displays do a nice job of explaining why relations are so tense here with Japan, China and even the US (we agreed with Russia to split the peninsula at the end of WWII without allowing the Korean people a say in it). It also does a very good job of explaining the suffering of both North and South Koreans during and after the war. Beyond the statistics presented (650,000 dead, over 1.5 million wounded, all major cities except Pusan destroyed) there are depictions of life in a refugee camp (life sized walk through) and frank descriptions of the travesties committed by both sides (conscription of troops, villages destroyed, POW treatment). Much more honest and critical of both sides than I expected.
One oddity that I found disturbing with the second floor exhibits was that this floor rarely mentions the UN forces except in side bars. I was actually getting a bit offended as we finished the floor. It seemed the gratitude toward the foreign troops displayed outside had no place in a Korean discussion of the subject inside. This was proved grossly incorrect, however. I simply hadn't seen the 3rd floor.
Half of the 3rd floor is entirely dedicated to the UN troops in often very moving ways. South Korea definitely recognizes the contributions others made on their behalf. There is one room on this floor that sums up their feelings. The perimeter of the room has displays featuring manikins in full dress uniforms representing each of the 16 countries that sent troops to Korea including the smallest armed troop contributor, Luxembourg (89 men). In the center of the room, a giant metal teardrop made up of approximately 4000 dog tags from troops who died in the war is suspended over a 10 foot wide sand bed. The sand is rippled in concentric rings depicting the impact of the tears shed on behalf of those who died. A small plaque explains that the rings also symbolically note the immense impact a single life had on saving South Korea and spurring it's growth into a vibrant free country. Very nicely done.
The remainder of the 3rd floor shows how the Korean army has grown and has become one of the more active participants in the UN forces (seldom out of the top 5 contributors in any action - usually in the top 3). Frankly, after seeing so much war, even when displayed so well we were eager to be on our way and we rushed through the rest of the exhibits.
Overall the memorial is extremely well done and a must see here in Seoul. It certainly leaves it's mark and won't be something we forget soon. Sort of the point of a war memorial I think...
Click here to add text.
War Memorial - Itaewon, Seoul, ROK
Evolution of Korean Armies
- Entrance to Memorial
UN Troop Monument
2nd of 6 halls of remembrance.
Sign on entrance to this hall reads...
"Let's pray for the cherished memories of the souls of all the defenders of the Republic of Korea"
Replica of Korean Turtle Ship (Geobukseon) - Armored, spiked roof enclosed crew and prevented boarders. Credited for having prevented the larger Japanese navy from invading Korea in the late 1500's.
Tribute to UN troops who fought in Korean Peninsula war from 1950-1953
